Disney unit to start making 3-D animated films

Miramax Films will co-finance and distribute computer-animated family films starting with "Opus," adapted from the popular "Bloom County" comic strip, the company said Thursday.

Miramax will release some of the films under its Dimension banner and produce them in conjunction with Wild Brain Inc., a San Francisco-based animated film company perhaps best known for creating the nasty toe fungus in commercials for the prescription drug Lamisil.

The multiyear deal also gives Miramax and Dimension the opportunity to distribute direct-to-video productions fully financed by Wild Brain, the companies said.

The deal envisions lower budget feature films consistent with Miramax's independent studio status. Films will cost about half of the bigger budget movies produced by Pixar Animation Studios or DreamWorks SKG.

"What you spend doesn't necessarily reflect on how good the movie is," said Jim Miller, Wild Brain chairman.

The announcement comes as The Walt Disney Co., which owns Miramax, is gearing up its own computer-animated film production to replace Pixar's films. Disney's deal with Pixar expires after the delivery of next year's film "Cars."

Disney will release its first computer-animated film "Chicken Little" next year.

The Miramax-Wild Brain collaboration will probably produce one film every 18 months or even longer, with the first effort targeted for late 2006 or early 2007.

The choice of subject for the first film reflects Miramax's eclectic tastes and could prove to be a hard sell, especially to younger audiences.

The character of Opus is a rotund penguin with a cynical world view -- far from the heartwarming characters at the center of such films as "Finding Nemo."

"We agree that it's a challenge," Miller said. "How do you take the essence of those characters, who are a little cynical, and move them into a story that can reach adults at the 'Bloom County' level and children at their level? We think we have a terrific story."

The challenge has been given to screenwriter Craig Mazin, whose credits include "Scary Movie 3." "Bloom County" is written by Berkeley Breathed.

Dimension has been working on the "Opus" project for a year. Wild Brain's participation in the deal is being financed by European private equity firm Syntek Capital AG.

Wild Brain also produces the preschool television series "Higglytown Heroes" on the Disney Channel, as well as commercials for Coca-Cola and Nike.

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Union recommends voting against Disney World contract proposal

"It will be a recommended no-vote," said Joe Condo, who is heading negotiations for the Service Trades Council Union.

The union represents workers ranging from hotel maids to park ticket-takers to the workers who play costumed characters such as Mickey Mouse.

As a rule, Disney officials don't comment on contract negotiations.

Union officials oppose the elimination of some overtime provisions, a significant increase in the cost of health care insurance and a proposal to eliminate a pension plan for new hires, offering a 401K plan instead.

Starting minimum wage in the first year of the three-year contract would increase 10 cents to $6.80 with 10 cent increases in each of the next two years.

Condo said a strike isn't being considered but that it hasn't been ruled out in future votes.

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Suburbia sizzles in ABC's 'Desperate Housewives'

Welcome to Wisteria Lane, Mr. Cherry's neighborhood.

Here, in seemingly placid suburbia, homemakers tend their husbands, children and flower beds -- while barely suppressing fear and frustration that threaten to blow the place sky high.

That's how Marc Cherry, creator of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," paints his fictional corner of the world. It's a comically dark view but one, he insists, that's a big step removed from satire.

"Satire sounds like you're making fun of something. And the truth is I'm not making fun of the suburbs. I love the suburbs," Cherry said. "I love the values of the suburbs, loved my family, our neighbors.

"It's just that stuff happens. I don't romanticize that life at all."

Growing up in Southern California and Oklahoma (with intermissions in Hong Kong and Iran, courtesy of his father's work in the oil industry) Cherry, 42, saw a fair amount of stuff.

"I remember the husbands leaving with their suitcases and my parents saying, `You're not allowed to ask them what's going on.' I remember the custody battles. The full range of human experience was there."

In "Desperate Housewives," the houses are more perfect and the housewives more perfectly beautiful (and deeply troubled?) than in a typical neighborhood. The series debuts 9 p.m. EDT Sunday.

ABC is hoping it produces some home improvement for the network's ratings, which are in a prolonged slump. It was willing to take a chance on "Desperate Housewives" when other networks passed (good writing but "not gritty enough," HBO told Cherry).

There's no risk when it comes to the ensemble cast, all of whom have solid credentials in prime-time angst.

Teri Hatcher ("Lois & Clark") is Susan, a single mom looking for love, maybe in the wrong places. Felicity Huffman ("Sports Night") plays Lynette, a high-powered businesswoman turned highly frazzled mom. Marcia Cross ("Melrose Place") is Bree, a pent-up perfectionist. Eva Longoria's ("L.A. Dragnet") Gabrielle may be reconsidering the price she paid for a suburban haven.

Hovering nearby is the spirit of Mary Alice (Brenda Strong, "Starship Troopers"), whose suicide stunned Wisteria Lane. She's now a one-woman Greek chorus, watching as her former pals try to keep their balance.

In a TV season crowded with reality programs and endless variations on a criminal theme (the "Law & Order" and "CSI" franchises), "Desperate Housewives" stands out.

Even its title is bold. Cherry recalled one ad industry executive's comment that, although the show had merit, ABC faced an a challenge attracting viewers because of the offbeat name.

"Good heavens," said an exasperated Cherry. "If people are enjoying the heck out of it, they'll watch it. It's that marketing thing of putting the cart ahead of the horse."

For Cherry, the priority was making a smart show that could erase the memory of mediocre sitcoms he'd worked on. He'd started at the top, as a young writer on the hit sitcom "The Golden Girls" (1985 to '92) but then added flops like "The Crew," a "Friends" clone, to his resume.

He wanted to return to the example of "Golden Girls," in which creator Susan Harris explored the lives of older women, and create a show that had something to say and that hadn't been done "a million and one times."

Inspiration hit during a visit with his 67-year-old mother, Martha. Watching a news report on Andrea Yates, the Texas mother who drowned her five children, Cherry expressed bewilderment at such despair.

"My mom took her cigarette out of her mouth and said, 'I've been there,"' he said. She recounted the almost overwhelming burden of being alone with three youngsters while her husband pursued a master's degree. Cherry's mom successfully coped because of family help.

He was struck by the idea that a "perfectly sane, rational woman could have the life she wanted, being a wife and mother ... and still have moments of insanity."

Cherry figures that what was true for his mom is true again, with a twist, in the post-feminist 21st century: Women can decide for family over work but must accept responsibility for the outcome.

"Now it's `I've chosen it, I'm in control. Oh, I can't blame anyone for my own unhappiness, what do I do?"' said Cherry, channeling his characters.

There is no promise of happy endings in "Desperate Housewives," but expect laughs along with the suffering. "The comedy comes out from the fact that our gals tend to make bad choices," Cherry said.

The writer-producer figures that, so far, his own choices are being validated. "Desperate Housewives," heavily promoted by ABC, has drawn plentiful buzz and solid reviews.

"It's nice, ain't no denying that. Having done shows where they weren't talking about them, or when they were talking about them they weren't saying nice things, it's definitely nice."

"We think we need to be cautiously optimistic -- and trust and verify," Disney said in a telephone interview. "If this turns out to be a charade we will go forward with what we promised we would," he said.

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Nick & Jessica Video Premiere

Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson re-recorded 'A Whole New World,' exclusively for release on Disney's 'Aladdin' DVD, due in stores Oct 5. Click the link below and then click "Nick & Jessica Video Premiere" to view video.

Click Here to View Video

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Attractions clean up, open doors

Restarting the tourism engine after a big storm is now as routine as sweeping the streets at the Magic Kingdom or saying that a seat cushion can be used as a flotation device.

As soon as Jeanne's winds weakened Sunday, theme-park and airport employees set to work assessing the damage and clearing debris, and Monday, it was business as usual.

"Unfortunately, we're getting quite good at this," said Jim Atchison, SeaWorld's executive vice president and general manager.

SeaWorld, along with Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, closed for Jeanne just as it closed for hurricanes Charley last month and Frances over Labor Day weekend, generally the last big weekend before Thanksgiving.

Jeanne crashed SeaWorld's Viva la Musica weekend, forcing the park to cancel Sunday's concerts by Aventura and Andy Andy. In addition to lost revenue from ticket sales, the park paid the acts, Atchison said.

"No one wants to close their business due to weather, especially more than once," Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said. "And of course we've seen an impact on our business. But with the past storms, we've seen signs of a relatively quick bounce back, and we're hopeful for the same things this time."

A Disney spokeswoman would not discuss the financial toll the storms have taken on the resort's bottom line.

Just as they did after Charley and Frances, the parks wasted no time in reopening after Jeanne.

SeaWorld was going to open at noon but opened about an hour earlier because cleanup didn't take as long as expected and tourists were waiting to come in, Atchison said.

Hurricanes Charley and Frances cleared out most of the dead branches and revealed most of the weak roofs, resulting in less damage from Jeanne, he said.

Universal's Islands of Adventure also was scheduled to open at noon because park managers figured workers would need extra time to clean up storm damage at home.

But enough employees came in early that the park opened at 10, Schroder said.

"We just have a really dedicated group of people who work incredibly hard, and we have a really good [cleanup] plan and process in place," he said.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Gatorland, Wet n' Wild and Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour were closed Monday but expected to reopen today, according to the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Orlando International Airport, closed since 5 p.m. Saturday, reopened Monday, with the first flight leaving about noon.

Jeanne caused airlines to cancel dozens of flights to and from Orlando over the weekend, forcing travelers to scramble for makeup seats.

But on Monday, several travelers at Orlando International said they had had little trouble rescheduling their flights, and those who still didn't have confirmed seats didn't mind waiting.

Late morning, Mable and Aubrey Williams waited in the main terminal to find out whether they could land a pair of seats on Song's 3:20 flight to Boston.

Song was encouraging, telling them there weren't many people ahead of them, but if the couple couldn't get to Boston Monday, they planned to spend the night with a friend and go back to the airport today.

"Obviously, the planes are full, so we're just sitting here like everybody else," Mable Williams said.

Downstairs, honeymooners Scott and Carrie Teague of Indianapolis waited by the luggage carousel. Jeanne forced ATA to cancel their flight Sunday, but they landed two seats to Orlando on Monday.

"It was no trouble at all," Carrie Teague said.

But Jeanne also shortened their honeymoon cruise.

Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas was going to set sail from Port Canaveral Sunday on a seven-night cruise, but Jeanne changed those plans.

The port was closed Sunday and will remain closed until officials complete their inspections of the channel and navigational aids.

Royal Caribbean said the Mariner would begin a five-night cruise today from Miami. Royal Caribbean, Disney and Carnival cruise lines also are using Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale until Port Canaveral reopens.

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Children's Place: It can reduce costs at Disney

A top officer of the Children's Place retail stores, which has been in talks with the Walt Disney Co. for several months to take over its ailing Disney Stores unit, said Monday that he thinks the chain can be turned around and even expanded by reducing costs and tweaking the merchandise mix. Seth Udasin, vp and chief financial officer of Children's Place, made his company's most detailed comments to date on the possible deal at the Thomas Weisel Partners Consumer Conference, taking place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York. "The stores have a lot of traffic today and have fairly good sales per square foot," Udasin said during a Q&A session with investment professionals following a short overview presentation. "We believe the biggest opportunity comes on the cost side. ... Over the last six to nine months, we've been pricing out their product overseas, asking how much we could get it for. We believe we could substantially reduce the cost of the merchandise almost immediately."

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Saget Stays in ABC's House With Wayans Comedy

Bob Saget, an important member of the ABC family with long tours of duty on "Full House" and "America's Funniest Home Videos," is looking to stay with the network.

ABC has given a script commitment to the "My Wife and Kids" duo of Damon Wayans and Don Reo to develop a family comedy for "Dirty Work" director Saget. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Reo and Wayans will write the pilot, which would star Saget as a divorced father who takes custody of his children.

Reo and Wayans would also executive produce.

The actor's additional credits include "Meet Wally Sparks," "Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd" and an immortal cameo in "Half Baked."

"If you look at it, it's back to having a flair," said Michael D. Eisner, the chief executive of the Walt Disney Company. He emerged from under the marquee of the New Amsterdam Theater, whose opulent revival in Disney's hands has been credited as a key catalyst in the redevelopment of 42nd Street.

That redevelopment is not to everyone's liking. "In transplanting a particularly glitzy version of shopping-mall, theme-park culture from the suburbs into the heart of the big city, the redevelopers of the theater district enhanced its tourist appeal at the cost of disappointing and even alienating many New Yorkers," Anthony Bianco wrote in the recently published "Ghosts of 42nd Street" (William Morrow).

But Mr. Eisner said nothing less than an upheaval was necessary.

                                                                                                            

"The problem was, this street didn't need a slight cultural shift," Mr. Eisner said. "This street needed a dramatic about-face." For a time, he recalled, Disney toyed with the idea of closing off the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues and turning it into a double-deck "urban entertainment" zone.

In New York to address the Association for a Better New York today on the rebirth of Times Square, Mr. Eisner spent some time yesterday at the New Amsterdam, recalling another visit 11 years ago. Disney was looking for a Broadway theater to call its own. The ravaged 90-year-old New Amsterdam was available.

Mr. Eisner was shown the theater in March 1993, by flashlight. "There were birds flying around and the rain was coming in," he remembered. Yet it beckoned.

"It was one of those things that took about 30 seconds," Mr. Eisner said. " 'O.K. This sounds good. Let's do it.' I mean really. It was like high school. 'O.K., let's put on a show.' I looked at it. It was clearly fantastic. And then the issue was whether or not our doing it could create a change in the environment." A year and a half of tough negotiations followed. After a $39 million reconstruction, financed principally by a low-interest loan from the state and city, the theater reopened in 1997. Given how much was riding on his decision that day, it seems surprising that Mr. Eisner made up his mind so quickly.

Could it have to do with the fact that his father, Lester Eisner Jr., was involved in urban renewal projects throughout the Northeast in the 1960's, as a high-ranking New York State and federal housing official? Did young Michael come of age on Park Avenue thinking that powerful institutions with enormous budgets could reshape whole neighborhoods?

No, he said, he was more interested in sports at the time.

More important, he said, was the fact that he had hung around 42nd Street when he was growing up in the 50's. "I knew it so well," he said. "I spent so many hours on 42nd Street with my friends - probably not to the pleasure of my parents."

And even in the 1990's, he said, "You could see America walk up 42nd Street."

"What you do in your life is take all your education, all your experience and then you make an instant decision," Mr. Eisner said. "Now it was a little awkward when I brought the president of the company, Frank Wells, to see it a few months later. At least two prostitutes came up to him on the way into the theater."

Yesterday, the only passer-by who came up to Mr. Eisner was a middle-aged man on his way to the box office at the New Amsterdam.

Rebecca Robertson, a former president of the 42nd Street Development Project, who is now the executive director of the Lincoln Center Development Project, said 42nd Street was still a center of popular culture. "You go there and everyman is there," Ms. Robertson said. "If their culture is more corporate than many of us would like, maybe not as eccentric and strange, that's true. But it is an entertainment street."

Until recently, Disney envisioned using the historic Times Square Theater, across 42nd Street from the New Amsterdam, for movies and live shows, as it does at El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. "The core of the street should be entertainment," Mr. Eisner said. In June, however, the nonprofit New 42nd Street, the organization that controls the theater, leased the building to the fashion retailer Ecko Unlimited, with which it had been negotiating before Disney expressed its interest.

Mr. Eisner said this was his only regret about the redevelopment.

Well, maybe not the only one. On that day in March 1993, he also fell in love with the Aerial Gardens, a smaller theater in the New Amsterdam building. Because there is no way to get several hundred patrons up there under the elevator requirements of the current building code, the space has languished.

Mr. Eisner took a peek yesterday. "It would be fun to bring this back," he said. "If this were on the ground floor, we'd be doing it."

Screenwriter Being Commissioned for Narnia Sequel

Disney has confirmed a scriptwriter is being commissioned to work on a follow-up to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

A spokesman for New Zealand director Andrew Adamson's big budget project told an audience at the Pulp Culture Expo in Wellington that the writer will create a script for Prince Caspian, the second Narnia novel written by CS Lewis.

But he said a decision on whether the sequel would proceed would not be made until the first movie took off.

While the two books were the first to be written in the Narnia series, they do not follow the accepted sequence for the books.

Disney decided to begin with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe because it was the best known of the novels, but according to Narnia fan sites and Lewis himself, it was the second novel in chronological order after The Magician's Nephew. Prince Caspian was book four.

The possibility of a second movie was first floated in July by Mark Zoradi, president of Buena Vista International, Disney's foreign distributor.

He told film website Screen Daily that it was an ideal time to begin work on the next screenplay.

No decision has yet been announced on who will provide the voice for Narnia's Lion King, Aslan. Scenes using an animatronic lion have already been shot, including his pivotal death and resurrection scene near the end of the movie.

The Disney-Walden production reportedly boasts a budget of between $150 million and $230 million, making the project the biggest earner to hit Auckland since the America's Cup.

Filming ends in Auckland this month, with the crew shifting to the South Island and the Czech Republic before the scheduled release next year.

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Disneyland turning 50

Here's the deal with Disneyland.

The two women ahead of me in line were Elizabeth and Lexi, twins from Winnetka, Ill. Elizabeth is a communications and political science major at the University of Southern California. Lexi is a philosophy major at Yale.

They knew the words to ''We Can Fly,'' a song from Walt Disney's ''Peter Pan.'' It's the song the chorus sings when Wendy, John and Michael, powered by pixie dust, fly with Peter from London -- pausing at Big Ben -- and off to Never Land.

I knew the words too.

I am much, much older than Elizabeth and Lexi, and it didn't matter.

In that line for Peter Pan's Flight, a ride at Disneyland, we sang the song together -- good and loud, in the words of the late Harry Caray -- without any sense of embarrassment at all.

''When there's a smile in your heart...''

Says it all.

It was 1955 -- two years after Peter and Wendy and Hook and that very silly ticking crocodile hit the big screen -- that Walt Disney gave the world Disneyland.

Anaheim, and a sizable chunk of the world, are better for it.

Naturally, the Disney folk are planning a 50th Anniversary Celebration next year. The party officially begins May 5 (That's 05/05/05. Get it? The Mad Hatter would.), even though the actual anniversary is July 17.

What was it like here on July 17, 1955? Well, it certainly wasn't your average zip-a-dee-doo-dah day.

Statement, in a news release, attributed to Disney CEO Michael Eisner:

''The dawn of the theme park industry rose from one man's dream as he walked Anaheim orange groves more than 50 years ago, and today, the sun never sets on Disney's global theme park landscape.''

That's nice. Here's a 1955 eyewitness account of the dawning, by the Associated Press:

''An estimated 30,000 persons visited Disneyland today as the $17 million amusement park was opened to the public.... A gas leak that forced officials to close part of Fantasyland Castle (sic) for an hour and 40 minutes was repaired.''

Which pretty much coincides with this retrospective:

''Opening Day was generally regarded as a disaster.''

That last quote is courtesy of John McClintock, a spokesman for what's now Disneyland Resort (Disneyland, Disney's California Adventure and related Anaheim properties) and a truth-teller from whom we will hear again.

The 50th Anniversary hoopla, which will hoople at all the Disney tourist magnets (including Orlando, Paris, the cruise ships and under-construction Hong Kong), is, of course, a marketing and merchandising decision, like so much that is today's Disney. So let's address that quickly and move on.

Undeniable fact: Disneyland always has been as much about selling stuff as it's been about expressing the founder's fixation on trains, Victorian main streets, dwarfs and a certain rodent.

And yet...

On this latest visit, there was a moment. It came at a performance of ''Snow White -- An Enchanting New Musical,'' which is notable, among other things, for combining the name of a show and in-house critical acclaim. Anyway, the live-action show had just ended, and the big, fully enchanted crowd was applauding.

This one little girl -- I'm guessing she was 4 -- was standing on a chair, her stance steadied by her mother's hands, and excitedly clapping.

Prince Charming, from the stage, spotted her in the crowd. He waved.

The little girl waved back, and turned to her mother, absolutely beaming...

So if you want to tell kids waiting in an autograph line that inside the Goofy suit is some out-of-work dishwasher from Oxnard, go ahead.

I, for one, choose to believe -- for hours at a time, at least -- that elephants can fly without a magic feather, pirates are very cool, that when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true -- and if you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all.

On the other hand: Opening Day in 1955 was a disaster.

Asphalt was still soft, trapping high heels. Rides broke down. Gate-crashers with phony tickets overwhelmed the place. Tomorrowland almost didn't open until... well... sometime beyond tomorrow.

All this, of course, was nationally televised (with a succession of technical glitches) on ABC, co-hosted by, among others, General Electric pitchman Ronald Reagan.

''Not much was here in 1955,'' McClintock said, standing in today's Tomorrowland near the place where a rocket (brought to you by TWA) once waited eternally for liftoff. ''It was very, very much a rush job.''

Over in Fantasyland...

''There was a boat ride here, which was pretty much a boat ride through nothing,'' said McClintock. ''It was just a river and, as I've heard it described, piles of mud.''

In short, Disneyland on July 17, 1955 was Adventureland. (Which, by the way, had only one working ride.)

What's interesting, given the shaky beginning, is how much of the original 1955 Disneyland is still here, in good working order, nearly half a century later.

The lifesize Mark Twain Riverboat -- the most popular ride in the park's early days -- still paddles its way along the Rivers of America. The Hatter's cups still spin madly at the Mad Tea Party. Dumbos (which debuted a month late) still carry passengers, unlike TWA.

''I think some of the elephants are the original elephants,'' said McClintock, others having flown to Paris in 1990, ''and I'm virtually certain some of the teacups are originals.''

The Frontierland Shootin' Exposition -- a shooting gallery -- continues to draw, even though rifles that once shot actual pellets now fire only laser beams. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Snow White's Scary Adventures (now temporarily closed for upsprucing) and, yes, Peter Pan's Flight -- all there in 1955 -- are all there today. Sort of.

''It's not the same ride,'' McClintock said of, for example, Peter Pan's Flight. ''It's obviously the same concept -- but, for example, the stars on the ride now are fiber-optics. In the early days, the stars were Ping-Pong balls painted with fluorescent paint.''

Ping-Pong balls.

The Boat Ride to Nowhere (formal name: Canal Boats of the World) was shut down by September 1955, eventually added a Monstro entrance (the mouth of Pinocchio's sneezing whale) and miniature stuff, and morphed into the Storybook Land Canal Boats. Autopia, an instant hit, the ride that let unlicensed tots drive cars on a scaled-down superhighway of the future, still does (thanks to Chevron; sponsored attractions remain a Disneyland tradition) -- but on a different highway and in different cars.

Another original and enduring favorite, Adventureland's Jungle Cruise, hasn't changed the boat-driver's silly patter -- except for minor tweaks -- since the beginning. And that's good.

One line: ''Now that's something you don't see every day. I do.''

A recent change: Our trusty driver-guide doesn't shoot the menacing hippos anymore. Some people were uncomfortable with the shooting of unarmed fake hippos with a fake pistol.

''I was surprised when they stopped,'' said McClintock. ''Not because I had any great stake in whether we shot the hippos or not, but because that shot was actually a distress signal. If you shot more than once, it meant something was wrong with the boat.''

Imagine robotic hippos having their way with a stalled boatload of helpless guests...

Sleeping Beauty's Castle (also being freshened up for 2005) hasn't moved. Right behind it (though moved from its first location), King Arthur's Carousel -- a genuine antique -- continues spinning merrily as it has since the opener.

But if Walt Disney suddenly showed up to check things out (and contrary to the legend, he is not in a freezer somewhere; his remains rest warmly at Forest Lawn in Glendale), he'd no doubt be most delighted to find 1) the miniature trains still run on time, and 2) Main Street U.S.A. hasn't changed much at all.

''The Opera House, which now has Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, was the first building built at Disneyland,'' said McClintock. Only the signs are post-1955.

The wooden Indian outside the Smoke Shop is still on guard, but the shop sells DVDs and music now, not smokes. The City Hall building, once filled with offices of some company execs, isn't the executive office building anymore. Some other shops have changed functions, but the exteriors -- judging from old photos -- are pretty much as they were.

Upstairs of the Fire House, right off the town square, was Disney's private apartment. It isn't a living quarters today; a small light, always on, glows from a front window in tribute.

''He would spend nights there frequently,'' said McClintock. ''When I came to work here (in 1987), there were still some old-timers who had stories. They'd come in to work at

6 a.m., and Walt would be taking a walk through the park, to see what he wanted to change.

''What he supposedly said was that he was frustrated with filmmaking because when you finished a film, that was it. Whereas the park -- it constantly evolves. He could add new things; he could close down things he didn't like; he could change things.''

One of his first changes: shutting down a circus attraction starring the not-so-merry first generation of Mouseketeers.

Over the decades (Disney died in 1966) there have been more changes, some that likely would please him, some not. Cotton candy -- he didn't like cotton candy (too messy) -- is sold at the park now. Hot dogs, another unfavorite, are peddled from carts.

The Rocket to the Moon attraction went the way of TWA (it's now Redd Rocket's Pizza Port). The coral still exists in a lagoon, but the Submarine Voyage doesn't dive there anymore.

In the beginning, there were just four ''lands'' (Adventure, Frontier, Tomorrow and Fantasy).

Now there's also New Orleans Square (which -- like its feature attraction, 1967's Pirates of the Caribbean -- Disney helped plan); Mickey's Toontown (Mickey and Minnie have separate homes there; no word on whether there's a secret tunnel); and Critter Country (domain of Pooh and pals, along with the super-popular Splash Mountain ride).

Change happens.

The Mike Fink Keelboats (1955) vanished in 1994, reopened in 1996 and shut in mid-1997 after one of them, the Gullywhumper, held an unscheduled splash party, with injuries. The Swiss Family Robinson Tree House (1962) was sublet to Tarzan (1999).

''That,'' said McClintock, ''has been the history of Disneyland for 50 years.''

Look closely, and here and there in the ''Happiest Place on Earth'' are bits of Disneyland archeology. Those tracks at the edge of Frontierland that lead nowhere are from the Rainbow Caverns Mine Train (1956-1959, then renamed, then closed in 1977). Stations for the Skyway (1956-94) -- which carried folks high over the park (and through the Matterhorn) in gondolas -- are, unlike the gondolas, still around. So are old ticket booths (look for the big mushroom alongside the Alice in Wonderland ride, for one).

And some are endangered:

• Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln (like ''it's a small world'') was created by the Disney people for the 1964 New York World's Fair (in Abe's case, for the Illinois Pavilion). The Audio-Animatronic president was re-installed in Anaheim in 1965; the presentation, once an inspiring composite of Lincolnisms, in 2001 became part of a Civil War re-enactment of sorts, climaxed by the lifelike robot's recitation of the Gettysburg Address.

On an afternoon when the wait for Splash Mountain was more than an hour, the Opera House crowd for one Mr. Lincoln presentation totaled about 25.

The robotic Great Emancipator will be in storage for the 50th anniversary celebration. Plans now are to restore him to office in late 2006.

''It would be difficult for us to do anything with that attraction,'' said McClintock. ''Lincoln is kind of a sacred cow, as you might imagine, in Disneyland as everywhere else. But that doesn't mean it hasn't been considered.''

And some things won't ever change.

• At the Refreshment Corner, a food shop steps from a statue of Walt Disney holding Mickey Mouse's three-fingered hand, a girl behind the counter, probably college-age, handed me a chili dog with a joy rarely seen in girls serving chili dogs. She was beaming like a 4-year-old who had just met Prince Charming.

Me: ''Are you always this happy?''

Girl: ''Yes! They just played musical chairs with the characters!''

Mary Poppins: ''In ev'ry job that must be done,

There is an element of fun...''

The girl behind the counter had the musical chairs. In my job, I washed down the chili dog with ice cream, especially loved Pirates of the Caribbean (''Yo-ho'') and satisfied my Inner Pan, in a most delightful way.

At Disneyland, that's been the deal for 50 years.

Walt Disney World Opens

The following operating hours have been updated for Monday, September 27:

Magic Kingdom - 9am - 8pm
Share a Dream Come True parade - 3pm
SpectroMagic - None
Wishes - 8pm

Epcot
Future World - 10am - 7pm
World Showcase - 11am - 9pm
Illuminations - 9pm

Disney-MGM Studios - 10am - 8pm
Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade - 3:30pm
Fantasmic! - 8pm

Animal Kingdom - 9am - 5pm
Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade - 4pm

Downtown Disney
Marketplace - shopping & dining - 12 noon - 11pm
Pleasure Island - Shops - 7pm - 2am; Clubs - 7pm - 2am
West Side - Shops - 12noon - 1am; Dining - 12noon

DisneyQuest - 12 Noon - 11pm

Typhoon Lagoon - Closed
Blizzard Beach - 10am - 5pm
Fantasia Gardens & Winter Summerland Mini Golf - 12pm - 11pm
Golf Courses: Osprey & Magnolia golf courses - Open; Remaining golf courses - Closed

Living Seas Closed Thru 10/3
Due to the impact of Hurricane Jeanne, the Living Seas pavilion, the Coral Reef restaurant, and the Dolphins in Depth tour at Epcot will not be operating until Sunday, October 3.

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground will re-open for guests on Tuesday, September 28.

Disney's Vero Beach Resort will re-open for guests on Saturday, October 2.

Orlando International Airport flights resumed at noon today, September 27. Passengers can begin arriving at 10 a.m. and are advised to check with their airline for information on the status of their flights before coming to the airport.

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Disney's second run at the Alamo legend slated for home video this week

John Wayne filmed perhaps the biggest version of the story with his personally-financed The Alamo in 1960. Now the Disney folks are back at it with The Alamo (Touchstone). It boasts the most historically-accurate telling to date of how, in 1836, 200 patriots holed up in an old Spanish mission down in San Antonio de Bexar and held off a Mexican army ten times its size, before they were overrun and slaughtered.

Hoping that moviegoers still wanted to remember the Alamo, filmmaker John Lee Hancock mounted another lavish epic, featuring Billy Bob Thornton as Davy, Dennis Quaid as Sam Houston, Jason Patric as Jim Bowie and Patrick Wilson as William Travis.

Alas, audiences responded with a big yawn and didn't buy tickets. But now, this new Alamo comes to home video hoping for a second chance. It's no spoiler to say everyone dies but, in a nod to revisionist history of recent years, Thornton's Davy doesn't go down swinging his rifle like Fess Parker. Instead, he's captured by Gen. Santa Anna's men and executed, his defiance intact to the end.

What's truly original here is the script's approach to the issue of bravery. Each of these "heroes", Crockett included, is seen displaying doubt about his commitment which, in the end, seems to be as much to one another and their reputations as to the cause. Also, this version is the only one to go beyond the Alamo to the equally bloody revenge Sam Houston's army exacted on Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto, where 650 Mexican soldiers were slaughtered in a mere 18 minutes.

The DVD includes several behind-the-scenes featurettes, plus deleted scenes. An interesting bit shows the innovative Spydercam, a camera mounted on a series of high wires, that soars spider-like over the action for a smooth airborne pan.

Walking Tall (MGM) - This update says it's dedicated to the memory of legendary Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser, played in a series of 1970s films by Joe Don Baker and Bo Svenson. But The Rock takes only the basic premise and runs with an entirely different kind of story. First, things shift from the American south to the Pacific northwest of today. Our hero - no longer named Pusser and more Rambo than redneck - returns home to find things have changed. A corrupt villain has shut down the mill and opened a combination gambling casino-brothel, turning the community into a latter-day Sodom. Rock then picks up a slab of lumber and begins to go primitive on the local baddies' noggins until they cry uncle. It's a perfect role for him, mostly muscle with little method required. Although it runs only about 75 minutes, this new Walking Tall does end with a heckuva knockdown fight.

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Disney gives new meaning to computer `mouse'

Disney isn't a corporation, I've learned as the father of a 4-year-old girl, it's a way of life. Children watch Disney movies on video, dress up as Disney characters for Halloween, ride Disney-themed bicycles and play Disney video games.

So it's only appropriate that Disney is now stamping its powerful name on a personal computer: the new Disney Dream Desk PC, which runs Windows and sells for $899 in tandem with a Mickey-Mouse-eared flat-panel display.

The bright blue Dream Desk is a surprisingly good product, full of small but important innovations that make the computer very friendly for its target audience of children ages 5 to 12.

That's certainly the opinion of my daughter, Sara, who seems ready to follow in Daddy's footsteps in her affection for gadgetry. She instantly bonded with the Dream Desk after I set up the computer and display in her play area.

Sara is just at the stage where she can master basic computer concepts, such as moving and clicking a mouse. She quickly figured out several of the programs, and even how to turn on the system by herself. Then she proudly announced, ``I'm working in my office'' -- an understandable reaction from a child who has spent her whole young life watching her parents work on computers at home.

The Dream Desk, announced by Disney on Aug. 5 and shipped in mid-September, is actually a three-way collaboration.

Disney did consumer research and came up with overall product goals, as well as writing some new software. Frog Design (www.frogdesign.com), a Sunnyvale industrial design firm that worked on the original Apple Macintosh, created the look and feel. Medion (www.medionusa.com), a European computer maker with U.S. headquarters in San Bruno, is handling manufacturing and distribution.

The Dream Desk computer sells by itself for $599, and the display for $299. Both are available now from Disney's online store (www.disneystore.com), at some Disney stores and at CompUSA stores.

Previous attempts to create ``kid'' computers often involved nothing more than spray-painting the exterior pink for girls or pasting on flame decals for boys, while sticking obsolete hardware inside.

In contrast, the Dream Desk offers current, if low-end, technology. The computer has an Intel Celeron D 330 processor running at 2.66 gigahertz, accompanied by 256 megabytes of RAM, a 40-gigabyte hard drive and a combo DVD/CD-RW drive. There's also an ATI Radeon 9100 graphics chip, instead of the usual Intel graphics processor found on low-end systems, which provides smooth motion when playing games or watching DVD movies.

Non-Disney software includes Windows XP Home Edition and Microsoft Works. There's also ContentProtect Home Suite, which gives control to parents over e-mail, pop-ups and Web access, and even lets Mom and Dad decide what hours of the day children will be able to use the computer.

The display has a 14.1-inch color LCD screen, with speakers built into the pair of mouse ears on top.

For parents or grandparents who want their tykes to have the best of everything, there are Dream Desk peripherals including a color inkjet printer for $69, a simple digital camera for $79 and a game controller pad for $19. Later this year, there will also be a ``camcorder'' for $99 that records four minutes of video for transfer into the computer.

Special touches from the team of Disney, Frog Design and Medion include a kid-size mouse that is, appropriately, a Mickey Mouse silhouette. The simplified keyboard, which omits the rarely used number keys usually found on the right side, includes a knob for controlling speaker volume and buttons for launching several Disney programs.

The back of the computer has a clever sliding cover that, blessedly, stops curious little hands from pulling out cables.

There's also a unique accessory that Disney calls an ``optical pen,'' a chubby stick that stands in a yellow plastic holder on the keyboard. The pen works much like a mouse, using a special pad included with the system, but is easier for young hands to manipulate for tasks such as drawing.

Disney created three new programs for the Dream Desk: Disney Pix for drawing, Disney Flix for assembling simple videos and Disney Mix for creating music from a library of short sound bites.

Dream Desk also comes with three previously released Disney titles: ``Extremely Goofy Skateboarding,'' ``Disney Mahjongg'' and ``Adventures in Typing with Timon & Pumbaa.''

Overall, I'm prepared to recommend the Dream Desk with a few advisories.

First, the Dream Desk is intended as a family's second or third computer. The mouse and keyboard aren't appropriate for adults, and the system is under-powered for some grown-up tasks.

Second, this isn't the biggest bargain in town. A similarly configured non-Disney PC could be put together for $100 to $300 less by a careful shopper. With the savings, you could buy a child's keyboard and mouse as well as a half-dozen software titles.

Third, for all its design cleverness, the Dream Desk is still a low-end PC. Performance is occasionally sluggish and there's noticeable fan noise, which means you'll have to shut off the computer at night if it's in a child's bedroom.

Fourth, children and pre-adolescents have relatively modest computing needs. An older family computer that's been replaced by this year's model can be passed down to little ones.

I've got just such a computer in the back of my office, which I'm going to dust off once my borrowed Dream Desk is returned. I hope Sara accepts the substitution -- every parent knows how difficult it is to say ``no'' to anything carrying the Disney name.

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Scheduled Guests On ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," September 27 – October 1

"Jimmy Kimmel Live," which airs every weeknight (12:05-1:05 a.m., ET, following "Nightline"), features a diverse lineup of guests that includes celebrities, athletes, musical acts, comedians, human interest subjects and dangerously crazy people—along with comedy bits and a house band.

Following are the guests scheduled to appear on the program the week of September 27 – October 1:

SEPTEMBER 27
1. Actor Dennis Franz ("NYPD Blue") 2. Actress Ali Landry ("Eve") 3. Musical guests The Used

SEPTEMBER 28
1. Dallas Cowboys' Keyshawn Johnson

SEPTEMBER 29
1. Pro-Bass fisherman Byron Velvick ("The Bachelor") 2. Musical guests Scissor Sisters

SEPTEMBER 30
1. Comedian Steve Harvey 2. Actress Marcia Cross ("Desperate Housewives") 3. Future talent showcase singer/songwriter Dr. Franklin Ruehl

OCTOBER 1
1. Actress/comedian Wanda Sykes ("Wanda Does It")

Jimmy Kimmel serves as executive producer and Duncan Gray is the ABC executive in charge of production. "Jimmy Kimmel Live" is shot live in front of a studio audience and produced by Jackhole Industries, in association with Touchstone Television. (CLOSED- CAPTIONED) Enjoy "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on the web at www.abc.com.

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Small town magic: Disney still rooted in Marceline

Cartoonists, animators and Snow White helped make Walt Disney's boyhood hometown one of the happiest places on earth.

But longtime residents of Marceline say their kingdom is pretty magical all the time.

Kaye Malins, the "chief cartoon wrangler" for the sixth annual Toonfest, said the parade, art exhibit and artists' symposium are a way to show off the town -- about 60 miles southwest of Kirksville off U.S. Highway 36 -- and continue Walt Disney's legacy.

"Anytime you can get people to come to your town to see what a great town it is, it's a wonderful blessing," Malins said. "Anybody who comes to Marceline always comments on what a beautiful, clean place it is. Isn't Main Street amazing?"

Disney based his parks' Main Street U.S.A. on Marceline's Main Street, where he and his family walked and shopped from 1906 to 1911. This stretch of downtown Marceline features antique shops, cafes and a park with a gazebo.

But Disney's legacy is more than his parks or films, Malins said. Toonfest celebrates home, family, creativity and dreams -- the things that stayed with Disney as he grew into one of the most successful and influential men of the 20th century.

"I think Walt Disney's legacy is pretty much what Marceline is," Malins said. "Marceline gave Walt a true sense of place, and it was something he drew from his entire life.

"I think if we can give that gift to our children who live here now and to our wonderful friends who come and visit us, then I think that is the legacy.

"We want everyone to remember there was a man named Walt Disney, and he came from a family that nurtured him. We don't want anyone to ever forget that."

The Walt Disney Hometown Museum ensures that Marceline residents and visitors remember Disney's life and his many contributions to the town. Disney returned to Marceline toward the end of his life and donated money for a swimming pool and an elementary school.

Malins met Disney in 1956 when he was in town to dedicate the pool. He stayed in her family's home and remained in touch with them over the years, even landing Malins a job in Disneyland.

Inez Johnson, Malins' mother and a volunteer at the Hometown Museum, said Disney was a very thoughtful person who was concerned about everyone.

She said his legacy is "the happy place for all of us to enjoy" he created.

"His legacy is the importance of his rural influence as a young boy that stayed with him for life," Johnson said. "It shows how the simple pleasures of life are worth more than we think they are."

Bill Crager, who also works with the Hometown Museum, said he and his family are proud to showcase their small but picturesque town.

"We moved here in 1975, and we immediately were welcomed with outgoing hands by just everybody," he said. "We couldn't believe the friendliness."

Working at the museum, "we have really enjoyed when we meet people from all over the world," he said.

Walt Goodman, an aspiring cartoonist from Rocheport, Mo., visited Toonfest for the second year in a row. He said the trip is a pilgrimage for him.

"This place is sort of like the holy land of probably any cartoonist or any person who has any respect for creativity, because it's really the source of Walt's inspiration," he said. "You can almost feel the energy."

Goodman agreed with Crager that Marceline is a "special place."

"I don't think I've been to a place where people were more welcoming and genuine," Goodman said. "I hope it stays like this. This is basically the real Main Street U.S.A."

The visiting cartoonists and animators said they grew up idolizing Disney and drawing his characters. They all agreed Disney's magic remains in Marceline.

Greg Evans, the creator of the comic strip Luann, said he grew up in Burbank, Calif., near the Disney studio and always wanted to be an animator because of Disney.

"I spent hours in my bedroom drawing Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, and my parents were always, 'Gregory, go out and play baseball like your older brother,'" he said. "I didn't want to. I just wanted to draw cartoons all the time."

Evans said being in Marceline inspired him.

"It's very inspiring to be here and experience what this town is," he said. "What my wife and I have learned is it's not really the buildings and trees and art, it's the people of Marceline who have been so wonderful, so warm, so refreshing."

Tom Wilson Jr., who writes the strip Ziggy, said Disney influenced him and most other artists.

"I grew up with Mickey and Donald, and in some way I would say these things were very inspiring probably to every cartoonist in some form or another," he said.

Wilson said all of Marceline -- but especially Disney's "Dreaming Tree" -- was magical. Disney and his sister Ruth used to sit under a tree on the family farm to draw and tell stories. Wilson said he was looking forward to visiting the tree for a tree-planting ceremony that evening.

"I'm absolutely enamored with the whole idea that Walt had a dreaming tree," Wilson said. "I do know from what I do, and what I know other cartoonists do, that the truly successful creations, whether they're cartoons or something else, do come from passion.

"People sometimes give small towns a bum rap in big cities, but I realized that even back then all the raw materials were there for dreams to be made into a reality.

"This man with his wonderful imagination came to a place that had everything necessary, maybe like no other place in the world, but fate saw to it that he was placed here, so he could find what he needed to create this wonderful thing that has influenced everybody.

"He sat down under his tree and dreamed, and inspiration came to him. ... He took his ideas, he took his inspirations, and he made them real for all of us."

Kaye Malins said she likes to remind children that, like Disney, their dreams can come true.

"When children come to Marceline, we'll say, 'How old are you?' and they'll say, 'Oh, I'm nearly five," Malins said.

"We'll say, 'That's the exact age Walt Disney was when he came here." Suddenly it's like an epiphany. They think, 'Goodness, he was a farm boy?' Yes. 'He did chores?' Yes. And look what happened. Look what he aspired to become.

"So anything in possible. In Marceline, you truly do know anything is possible."

Tom Wilson Jr. agreed that dreams come true in Disney's world.

"Orlando's got Disneyworld, but you have Disney's world," Wilson said. "And he brought it with him and put it in everything he did."

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Port Everglades Fully Operational After Hurricane Jeanne Accommodating Additional Diverted Cruise Ships

Broward County’s Port Everglades is bustling with activity today in the aftermath of Hurricane Jeanne, which left the South Florida seaport completely intact.

Cruise berths are full as four cruise ships – Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Glory, and Disney Cruises’ Disney Magic and Disney Wonder – were diverted to Port Everglades from Port Canaveral and three Port Everglades cruise ships regularly scheduled for Saturday were rescheduled for today. In addition, Royal Caribbean International’s Enchantment of the Seas is in port on her regular four- and five-night rotation. Plus, two of the Port’s daily cruise ships – SeaEscape’s Island Adventure and Discovery Cruises’ Discovery Sun – are back in port (the port’s third daily operator St. Tropez, is undergoing a scheduled dry docking).

“It looks like a typical Sunday during our busy cruise season rather than a regular Monday work day,” said Port Director Ken Krauter. “I am pleased with the professionalism and speed exhibited by the Coast Guard, the Port Everglades Pilots and our Operations Division before, during and after the hurricane to get Port Everglades up and running so quickly.”

All petroleum berths are full as well, with more fuel ships scheduled to arrive over the next two days.

Princess Cruises’ Caribbean Princess, Holland America Line’s Zuiderdam, and Celebrity Cruises’ Century are rescheduled to sail from Port Everglades today as opposed to Saturday. Cruise passengers should contact their cruise lines for updated itineraries and information.

Capt. James Maes, Captain of the Port, U.S. Coast Guard, issued an order to halt all ship traffic on Saturday, September 25, effective at 7 a.m. Landside, the port remained open throughout the hurricane for the delivery of petroleum products via fuel trucks.

Port Everglades reopened to vessel traffic again at 11 a.m. on Sunday, September 26, following an inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard and Port Everglades Pilots. There was no damage to facilities landside or waterside.

Port Everglades is a self-supporting Enterprise Fund located in Broward County between the cities of Greater Fort Lauderdale and Miami. It is one of the world=s busiest cruise ports, the 12th largest container port in the United States and South Florida’s primary petroleum hub. The port provides approximately 12,000 direct jobs and generates $670 million in wages annually in the region.

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Two new Disney channels set for Germany  

Walt Disney Television International is set to launch two new digital kids channels in Germany -- Playhouse Disney and Toon Disney -- on Kabel Deutschland's new digital platform Kabel Digital Home, WDTI announced Monday. Both channels will launch in the territory Nov. 10. Playhouse Disney will be Germany's first pre-school channel. Targeted at the 2-5-year-old demographic, the channel will carry Disney product such as "New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh" and "Bear in the Big Blue House" from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The 24-hour cartoon channel Toon Disney will carry classic Disney animation including "Donald Duck," "Goofy" and "Mickey Mouse," as well as newer shows such as "Kim Possible" and "Disney's Recess."

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Orlando Tourism Area Is Unaffected by Hurricane Jeanne

On Monday morning, the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Inc. (Orlando CVB) talked with businesses in Metro Orlando's visitor corridor, including the Orange County Convention Center, airports, and major theme parks, and is pleased to report that the destination did not sustain significant damage as a result of Hurricane Jeanne.

The following outlines the status of visitor offerings in the Orlando area:

• Airports: Orlando International Airport and Orlando Sanford International Airport are fully operational with flights beginning at noon and 6:30 a.m. respectively.
• Attractions: Orlando-area theme parks opened Monday, including Discovery Cove, SeaWorld Orlando, Universal Orlando, and Walt Disney World Resort. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Gatorland, Wet n' Wild, Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour and Wordspring Discover Center are closed Monday, but will re-open on Tuesday.
• The area's shopping malls, restaurants, dinner shows and other entertainment options are open with normal business hours.
• Accommodations: All convention properties are open and fully operational. The majority of Orlando's 453 hotels, as well as vacation ownership properties and vacation rental homes, are open for business. At this time, the Orlando CVB is aware of only three properties that are closed, two of which remain closed from previous storms.
• Conventions & Trade Shows: The Orange County Convention Center sustained no damage during the storm and is fully operational.
• Other information: Port Canaveral is working to restore its operations. Cruise passengers are asked to call their cruise lines for the most up to date information.
• There are no gasoline or grocery shortages in Orlando. In addition, there are no curfews in effect for Orlando/Orange County.

For the latest destination information, please log on to http://www.orlandoinfo.com . Vacationers arranging a trip to Orlando can also call 407-363-5872 to speak with an Official Travel Counselor who will provide vacation-planning information from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. EDT every day of the year except Dec. 25.

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Solomon Linda's family to get royalties

A US music publishing house controlling the first rewrite of a song which became the hit The Lion Sleeps Tonight' has agreed to pay future royalties to the South African family of its composer, lawyers said today.

The New York-based music house TRO/Folkways has offered to pay all future royalties to the family of the late Solomon Linda, who composed the original Zulu tune for the song 'Wimoweh', said South African lawyer Owen Dean.

"We are on the brink of concluding a settlement with TRO/Folkways which controls ‘Wimoweh' the first of two international hits spawned by Linda's 1939 song 'Mbube' (lion)," said Dean, who represents Linda's estate.

"They have also offered to contribute to the costs of building a memorial for Linda," he said.

Ten years after 'Wimoweh' was transcribed "note-for-note" by folk singer Pete Seeger in 1949, the English lyrics starting with the line "In the jungle, the mighty jungle" were added, turning it into a smash hit grossing up to 15 million dollars.

Linda however, a poor Zulu migrant worker and entertainer, died with less than 25 dollars in his bank account in 1962.

His family is in the process of suing entertainment giant Walt Disney Corp. for R10 million for royalties from 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.

Disney earlier this month lost a bid to cancel a court order that its trademarks, including Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, be sold in South Africa to collect damage money.

The court's dismissal paved the way for lawyers representing Linda's family to continue with the original lawsuit.

Since the early 1960s, the song has been recorded by more than 150 different artists and features in at least 15 movies and stage musicals. It has been translated into several languages including French, Japanese, Danish and Spanish.

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Sleeping Beauty Awakens in Emporium Windows

As part of the romance-themed animated window displays at the Emporium gift shop on Main Street, U.S.A., an original window has been removed from the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-through attraction and installed in the gift shape window.

The interior of Sleeping Beauty Castle opened in 1957 with dioramas that gave a sneak preview of the upcoming Sleeping Beauty animated feature. The displays were updated two years later when the film premiered, expanded in 1968 and redesigned once more in November 1977. The attraction has been closed since 2001.

It took nearly three weeks for the Disney design team to remove the window, restore the pieces, rebuild animation and install them in the new location. The romance-themed Emporium gift shop windows are scheduled to remain through April and will then be replaced with new displays for the 50th Anniversary of the Disneyland Resort.

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Orlando International Airport (MCO) Remains Closed

Flight operations at Orlando International Airport are suspended until the impact of weather conditions associated with Hurricane Jeanne pass. At this time, high winds and rain conditions prevent normal flight activity. There are preliminary reports of damage that include water intrusions in the main terminal and airsides. At this time, maintenance and operations staffs are assessing the damage for a more complete evaluation of storm impact. Recovery and clean-up operations will begin as soon as possible. 

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Theme parks close early as 3rd hurricane bears down

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The Kessler Collection Wine Launch

The Kessler Collection Wine Launch originally scheduled on Sunday, Sept. 26 at The Westin Grand Bohemian and on Monday, September 27 at the Celebration Hotel has been moved to Friday, Oct. 8, 2004 from 5-7 p.m. followed by a wine & cheese reception from 7-10 p.m. at The Westin Grand Bohemian.

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24 September 2004 – A US group has responded to Greenpeace's claims that "hazardous chemicals" including phthalates are present in children's clothes manufactured for Disney (PRW 19 April).

The American Chemistry Council Phthalate Esters Panel said the Greenpeace report, which gave the impression that the clothes present a risk to human health, was not supported by science.

The panel said the discovery of phthalates in the products was not news as the chemical is widely used in inks, plastisols and flexible vinyl and the amounts discovered by Greenpeace were not unexpected.

Instead, its report focused on the question of the risk posed to health by the amount of phthalates contained in the clothes. Summarising the 30 references examined in the report, the panel said phthalates were "among the best-studied chemicals in the world".

"It is apparent that there are wide margins between the no effect levels in animal studies and the levels to which humans are exposed….The Greenpeace report does not provide any new information that would in any way change the conclusion of the previous risk assessments."

It said Greenpeace's advice to substitute other, less well-understood, chemicals was "irresponsible".

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Diluted History Hurts Disney's 'Alamo'

Disney had a $100 million-plus budget riding on its version of The Alamo, a war epic directed by John Lee Hancock. Box Office Mojo had forecast gross receipts of almost $15 million during its opening weekend and, when it barely reached $9 million, it was clear that The Alamo was in trouble. More than a week following its release, it has become the year's biggest bomb.

What went wrong with Disney's The Alamo may be debated as much as the famous siege itself. Most reviewers panned the movie's political correctness, though there were exceptions. Critic Roger Ebert praised it for capturing "the loneliness and dread of men" waiting to die. Perhaps Americans, facing the grim reality of U.S. soldiers surrounded by the enemy, were dissuaded from watching a war movie during a world war.

In a newspaper interview, Box Office Mojo president Brandon Gray suggested that today's younger audiences may not have been sufficiently aware of the Alamo. "[T]he ads just said 'this is about the Alamo.' That's probably assuming people know more than they do," Gray told USA Today.

For the studio that put Billy Bob Thornton's revisionist Davy Crockett on the silver screen 50 years after it created Fess Parker's heroic Davy Crockett for television, The Alamo offers a contrast to classic Disney -- and, according to those who ought to know, an illustration of how not to dramatize war history.

"One of my key criticisms of the movie," says history professor James S. Olson, who teaches at Sam Houston State University in Texas, "is that there wasn't any sense of why the men were there." Olson, who wrote A Line in the Sand: the Alamo in Blood and Memory, talked with Box Office Mojo after seeing the movie.

Olson credits The Alamo with a certain factual accuracy about the event, noting that the fate of each character is true to what is known to have happened inside the doomed fortress. "What I was waiting for was a filmmaker who was pandering to the left," he says. "I didn't really find that."

What he discovered instead was a sense of moral equivalency. Asked about Davy Crockett's actions in The Alamo, Olson answers: "There's no evidence that Crockett apologized to his men, as he does in the movie, and there's no evidence that he sympathized with a dying enemy soldier."

Virginia-based novelist Edward Cline, whose Sparrowhawk novels depict heroes in American history, agrees. Cline, who has written articles for Colonial Williamsburg Journal and Marine Corps League, told Box Office Mojo that the essence of the Alamo is missing from the Disney movie, which he says lacks context.

"The Alamo was a great event," Cline explains, noting that the battle is an American, not just Texan, victory. "The country was only 50 years old and we were being attacked -- again. If Santa Anna got his hands on Texas, he would have sought to expand his power."

"These were men who stalled Santa Anna's army while [General Sam] Houston got his army together and defeated them later [at the Battle of San Jacinto]. The Alamo made it possible for Texas' independence and, later, its admission to the United States," Cline says.

Cline contends that Texas joining the United States of America -- nine years after the Alamo -- changed the course of history.

"Think of the size: Texas is bigger than Europe," he says. "That vast state mattered to the young nation. Later, just before the Civil War, France took over Mexico and [Texas] served as a buffer against any kind of European designs. Europe still posed a threat to the United States --- the British had their eyes on the west coast -- they had Oregon wrapped up -- the Russians were in California with a naval fleet. There could have been a brand new war."

The Alamo, Olson and Cline concur, was an early test of America's founding ideas in action; the American War for Independence on a smaller scale. That sense of what mattered to the men in the Alamo, what was at stake, and what it cost them, eludes the 2-hour plus movie in theaters, according to Olson and Cline.

"They saw what was happening to them as a repeat of the American Revolution," Olson says. "The Mexicans were coming like the British as a centralized government -- they were coming to take control -- and [the men defending the Alamo] saw it immediately as Lexington and Concord. These men were fighting for their lives, their land and their freedom. It's not like these people were trapped in there -- they had a choice."

Olson points out that Texans -- whether from America or born in Mexico -- were united against the tyrannical Santa Anna and they had sympathizers south of Texas, too. Yucatan had seceded from Mexico. "Santa Anna outlawed militias and banned weapons, then he moved in to seize them at Zacatecas [Mexico]," Olson explains.

Olson said Santa Anna ordered hundreds of men shot in the back of their heads, with their hands tied together, at Goliad, which Olson describes as a massacre. But that would come later. For those at the Alamo, with Zacatecas demolished -- property stolen, silver mines stripped, women raped -- Texas was next and the 13-day siege at the Alamo would save a future of freedom for Texas.

"Look at William Travis [who commanded the Alamo]," Olson suggests. "He came to Texas to try and make his fortune there. I think Laurence Harvey [in John Wayne's version] really captured Travis's personality, like something out of a novel by Sir Walter Raleigh. He was a man of principle. He believed in nobility and great causes, and individual rights."

Cline describes Travis as the Alamo's intellectual. "He was fighting for an idea. Davy Crockett, who had a certain style and panache, was a man of action."

Cline insists that the Alamo's defenders deserve better than Disney's revised characterizations, which show the Alamo's fighters and leaders as embedded with doubts, flaws and fear. "The people in Texas wanted to be independent," he says. "They were investors, they were entrepreneurs, they were speculators -- they were the quintessential self-made Americans."

As Travis wrote in an open letter addressed to "all Americans in the world" during the confrontation, "The enemy has demanded a surrender ... I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, and everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid with all dispatch ..." According to Olson, Travis ended the letter: "VICTORY or DEATH."

Disney continues to do a good job of keeping Mickey Mouse present in modern merchandising - everything from personal computers to soft drinks is endorsed by the mouse these days. But I am particularly impressed with a new series of Kleenex tissue boxes (now on sale) celebrating Mickey's 75th anniversary - one of which features the earliest 1928 Mickey on one of its side panels. When was the last time you saw the black & white Mickey - limited editions and Disneyland merchandise excepted - promoted on such a mass market item?

                                            
                         
                 

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Disney Wonder

Disney Magic

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More Photos from Yesterdays Hong Kong Celebration

                              

The new 'Mr. Bicycle Man' character and song were created by Emmy Award winning Executive Producers Joey & Bernadette DiFrancesco who licensed it to Raven Moon for ten years. The soundtrack was recorded by Gina D of 'Gina D's Kids Club' and sends a powerful message to children "Watch out for Danger, And Don't Talk to Strangers."

The PSA was produced to benefit the Children's Rights Foundation, a 501-c-3 non-profit organization (see http://www.crfi.org ). It is the first animated project to be completed by former Disney animators who now make up the Raven Animation team under the direction of Director Mike Gibilisco. Former recipients of the Aurora Award included: Disney, HBO and The History Channel.

"We plan to make Raven Animation a new creative force in the entertainment industry, similar to where Pixar was several years ago before 'A Bugs Life,' 'Toy Story,' 'Toy Story 2' and 'Lilo & Stitch' was distributed by Disney," stated Joey DiFrancesco Raven's CEO.

"When Disney closed its animation studio in Orlando, leaving about 250 professional animators without jobs we thought that hiring such talented animators was an opportunity. Because of our plans to produce animated television programs and films we viewed this as a strategic acquisition. These talented animators from the Walt Disney Company are going to be an integral part of our success for years to come and it seems to be paying off already," stated DiFrancesco.

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All-star cast of animated figures makes Disney 'Magic'

Mickey Mouse, Minnie, Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, Mulan, Timon, Pumba and all of the beloved Disney princesses are skating into Chicago.

This year's Disney On Ice show celebrates "Walt Disney's 100 Years of Magic," featuring its largest cast of characters ever.

"This year's production is very unique. It isn't just a one-story theme. The show is a collection of the best moments of lots of stories," says Cory Obst, performance director for Disney on Ice.

"When you combine the great Disney stories, the wonderful music and the spectacular movement of ice skating, you truly have a magical experience."

Mickey and his pal Jiminy Cricket host the celebration.

The production is choreographed by Sarah Kawahara, who has worked with Olympic medalist and world champion Michelle Kwan and choreographed the skating segment in the Opening Ceremonies at the 2002 Olympics.

Visual sensations appear from start to finish. Broadway scenic designer David Potts has created floats and more than 100 scenic elements. The infamous Monstro, the whale from Pinocchio, also makes an appearance. The 36-foot-long creature is 12 feet wide and has a series of 14 custom-made arches that allow it to slither across the ice floor. Geppetto's Workshop comes to life with 20 animated toys on the shelves. In the "It's a Small World" segment, motorized floats represent Asia, Europe, Russia, Africa and Central America. The floats are adorned with more than 33 intricately detailed moving dolls and turn into a moving parade of light.

Nintendo's GBA, GameCube and Sony's PlayStation 2 at the beginning of 2005 simultaneously with the theatrical release of Disney's new Winnie the Pooh movie.

Developed by Phoenix Interactive, this new Action/Adventure game for children 3+ will bring players worldwide to the One Hundred Acre Wood forest, where they will have to help Winnie along with his friends, search for honey, as winter is settling down. With an easy-to-use adventure system, the game will also include the exclusive character from Disney's new Winnie the Pooh movie: Lumpy.

"Ubisoft is proud to announce this new partnership with Disney which offers us a selection of both a widely renowned character and a sensational new game," says Yves Guillemot, CEO and President of Ubisoft. "This new game gives us the opportunity to bring a new landmark character license to children around the world. Regardless of the language they speak or the culture of which they are part, children everywhere recognize and identify Winnie the Pooh. The fact that the Winnie the Pooh game corresponds with the long-awaited release of a new movie adds an extra dimension of excitement to this partnership."

Winnie the Pooh and his friends are the #1 preschool franchise leaders. Enormously popular with families, four different Winnie the Pooh full-length adventures have been #1 in preschool DVD/VHS sales in four of the last five years. (Winnie the Pooh Seasons of Giving (1999), The Tigger Movie (2000), Winnie The Pooh A Very Merry Pooh Year (2002) and Piglet's Big Movie (2003)).

2004 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, ubi.com, and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

The Walt Disney Company is a family entertainment company engaged in animated and live-action film and television production; cable and broadcast television; theme parks and resorts; character merchandise licensing; consumer products retailing; and newspaper, book, magazine and music publishing. 

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Renaissance Players present ‘a tale as old as time’

“It’s a tale as old as time” but it’s being heard for the first time in a community production when the Renaissance Players present “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” on the stage of The Renaissance Center in Dickson from Oct. 8-24.

The smash Broadway musical based on the 1991 animated film is being released for community productions for the first time ever starting in October and the Renaissance Players production is expected to be one of, if not the first, in the country.

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” will be presented at 7 p.m. Oct. 8-9, 15-16, 22-23 and 2 p.m. Oct. 10, 17 and 24. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7 for children under 13.

The musical opened in New York in April 1994 and has already become the sixth-longest-running musical in Broadway history, with more than 4,000 shows for more than 5.7 million people. It has had record-breaking runs in New York, London, Los Angeles, Toronto, Sydney and Tokyo.

Nominated for nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical, the play is based on the 1991 Disney movie, which became the first animated feature film to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Written by Linda Woolverton with music by Alan Menken and memorable songs by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” tells a heart-warming “tale as old as time” about love conquering all.

A handsome prince with a cold heart is turned into a grotesque beast by a magic spell that also transforms the staff of his castle into dancing and singing objects such as a teapot, cup, clock, candelabra and more. The only chance to break the spell is for someone to learn to love the Beast.

In a nearby village, the lovely Belle is busy rebuffing the advances of the egotistical Gaston while taking care of her elderly father, Maurice. When Maurice gets lost in the woods and stumbles upon the castle, he is taken prisoner by the reclusive Beast. After Belle learns what has happened to her father, she offers to exchange herself for her father’s freedom.

A great and fearless hunter, Gaston tries to rescue Belle and an epic battle ensues with the Beast victorious and Belle fears that she is to be a prisoner for the rest of her life. But with prodding from the curious castle staff, Belle opens her heart to the Beast and the spell is broken for a glorious Disney happy ending.

Amy Scott, managing director of the Renaissance Players, and Tracy Nichols are co-directing the show with Ned and Kay Mann as musical directors, leading the Renaissance Players Orchestra.

“We are very excited to have the opportunity to be one of the first community theater companies in the world to present ‘Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,’” Scott said. “Following the tremendous success of ‘The Wizard of Oz’ is a daunting task, but I believe this is just the show to do it. It’s a traditional love story with nontraditional characters and some of the most memorable songs to come out of Broadway in decades.

“More than 85 people auditioned for the 45-member cast. The production includes some of the most intricate costuming of any Renaissance Players show to date and, as always, our scenic design and carpentry shop is creating a phenomenal set for The Renaissance Center stage.”

“Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” kicks off the 2004-05 Renaissance Players season and marks the return of Sunday matinees.

“We tried Saturday matinees for the last two seasons but our patrons told us they prefer afternoon shows on Sundays,” Scott said. “It’s also easier on the cast and crew of a show this size to not have two shows in the same day.”

The Renaissance Players will follow “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” with “A Christmas Carol” in December, “Jesus Christ Superstar” in March, “Faith County” in May and “Fiddler on the Roof” in July.

For more information on the Renaissance Players production of “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast,” contact Scott at (615) 740-5551 or amy.scott@rcenter.org or visit the center’s Web site at www.rcenter.org.

The Renaissance Center is an arts and technology education and performing arts center located at 855 Highway 46 S. in Dickson, just 35 miles west of Nashville on Interstate 40 at Exit 172.

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Hong Kong Disneyland to open office in Guangzhou

Hong Kong Disneyland said Thursday it will open a sales office in China's Guangzhou to boost its promotion ahead of the theme park's grand opening scheduled for late 2005 or early 2006.

Roy Hardy, vice president of marketing and sales of Hong Kong Disneyland, said the sales office was expected to open by the end of the year.

The office would be part of a publicity campaign which has already kicked off in parts of China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Hardy said.

Speaking after the topping ceremony of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the centerpiece of the amusement park and resort, executives from Hong Kong Disneyland remained tight-lipped about the exact opening date and the ticket prices.

Hardy said geomancers would be consulted to set an auspicious date for the grand opening, which had been said to be October next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first Disneyland.

Disney executives also declined to confirm if Shanghai, which has been vying with Hong Kong over the deal, would have its own Disneyland in 2010 as reported in local and mainland Chinese media from time to time.

But Group Managing Director Don Robinson said he would not rule out having more than one Disneyland in China in the future.

Shanghai in 2002 also signed a draft contract to have a theme park built there by Universal Studios, but whether the contract will be finalized is uncertain.

The Hong Kong government struck the Disneyland joint venture deal with the Walt Disney Company in 1999 in a bid to salvage the territory's flagging tourism after the Asian financial crisis.

It owns a 57 percent stake in the project while Disney holds the remaining 43 percent.

The project is expected to generate an estimated HK$148 billion ($19 billion) boost to the economy over a period of 40 years, including employment income and profits for small and large companies in Hong Kong.

Attendance is projected at 5.6 million in the park's first year of operation, rising to 10 million after about 15 years.

One third of the visitors will come from mainland China, one third from Hong Kong and the rest from mainly other Asian countries, according to Disney's forecast. By comparison, 95 percent of visitors to Tokyo Disneyland are Japanese.

The amusement park is being built on 125 hectares of reclaimed land on the territory's Lantau Island, west of Hong Kong Island.

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Minnie CHOC Walk

On October 3rd the Disneyland Resort will host the CHOC Walk, a unique opportunity to stroll through Disneyland® Park and Disney's California Adventure™ before they officially open for the day. Young patients at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), who may not be able to participate in the benefit CHOC Walk at Disneyland Resort, had their own "Minnie CHOC 

                                                          

                 Walk" (including guest Minnie Mouse) through the corridors of the hospital on Wednesday, September 22.

                                                     

     Beverley Mitchell (right) of the "7th Heaven" series made a special appearance, and met CHOC patient Brett Finney, age8,     of   Yorba Linda, California, as well as "therapy dog" Roxy (dressed as Tinker Bell).

Beverley Mitchell (right) of the "7th Heaven" series made a special appearance and met CHOC patient Davis Ammari, age 3, of Fullerton, California, as well as CHOC Walk co-chair Suki Carter (left).

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Great Start for ABC "LOST"

Auds discovered ABC drama "Lost" in a big way Wednesday night, as the critically hailed skein premiered to some of the Alphabet's best drama numbers in nearly 10 years, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen. Also on the night, CBS' premiering "CSI: NY" defeated NBC's "Law & Order" in their first head-to-head matchup.

In Wednesday's opening hour, "Lost" (6.5/19 in adults 18-49, 18.0 million viewers overall) dominated the competish, beating CBS' second-place "Dr. Phil" special by 8 shares in adults 18-49. In total viewers, no ABC drama has opened bigger since "Murder One" in 1995. ABC didn't do as well from 9 to 11 as "The Bachelor" (3.8/10 in adults 18-49, 8.5 million viewers overall) was nothing special in its season premiere against atypically tough competish.

Night's 10 o'clock drama battle went to "CSI: NY" (6.9/18 in adults 18-49, 18.5 million viewers overall) over "Law & Order" (5.6/14, 15.7 million viewers overall). For CBS, this is roughly triple what "The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H." bowed to last September in the hour and the net's best showing here in seven years. "Law & Order" held tough though, and this matchup figures to be a tight one all season. From 9 to 10 an additional seg of "Law" won with a 6.2/16 in adults 18-49 and about 18.4 million viewers overall.

Elsewhere, CBS did well with the two-hour "Dr. Phil Primetime Special: Family First" (4.6/13 in adults 18-49, 13.0 million viewers overall), which built each half-hour and placed second for its time period.

The WB's "Smallville" (2.7/8 in adults 18-49, 5.5 million viewers overall) opened well despite opposing "Lost," and new 9 o'clock sudser "The Mountain" did OK (1.8/5, 4.1 million viewers overall). UPN had a modest opening for the third edition of reality series "America's Next Top Model" (1.8/5 in adults 18-49, 3.8 million viewers overall) and fell from there at 9 with a special preview of drama "Veronica Mars" (1.1/3 in adults 18-49, 2.6 million viewers overall).

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: CBS, 5.4/14; ABC, 4.7/13; NBC, 4.7/13; Fox, 2.4/6; WB, 2.3/6; UPN, 1.4/4.

In total viewers: CBS, 14.9 million; NBC, 13.8m; ABC, 11.7m; Fox, 5.2m; WB, 4.8m; UPN, 3.2m.

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Sunday Football Puts ESPN Atop Cable Ratings

After a summer watching TNT and USA battle it out for the cable ratings crown, the NFL regular season has finally taken ESPN back to the top of the cable ratings charts, where the network spent much of last fall. Buoyed by the gridiron action between the Bengals and the Dolphins, ESPN ruled the cable roost for the week ending Sunday, Sept. 19.

ESPN averaged 2.73 million viewers per night in primetime, outdistancing second place USA, which drew 2.28 million viewers per night and Fox News, which attracted 2.17 million. Last week's winner TNT slipped to fourth with 1.99 million, holding off Nick at Night in fifth with 1.85 million.

ESPN's Sunday dominated the week with the Miami-Cincinnati game scoring with 9.3 million viewers, while the "NFL Primetime" highlights show was No. 2 with 5.25 million and the "SportsCenter" after the game was No. 8 with 3.76 million.

Both USA and Fox News achieved their ratings without placing a single show in the basic cable Top 15, but TNT had a trio, led by the post-race coverage from the Nextel Cup race in Loudon, N.H., which was No. 3 with 4.35 million viewers. The race itself was No. 4 with 4.25 million and an episode of "Law & Order" was No. 6 with 3.99 million.

With the exception of Spike TV's WWE Entertainment double-bill (4.13 million, 5th) and FX's "Nip/Tuck" (3.75 million, 9th), the rest of the list was dominated by Nickelodeon's animated programming.

The Top 15 contained four episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants," peaking at No. 7 with 3.98 million viewers and falling as low as No. 13 with 3.52 million viewers. Two episodes of "Fairly Odd Parents" came in at No. 10 with 3.7 million viewers and at No. 14 with 3.47 million.

The season premiere of "The Wire" led the HBO-dominated premium cable list, bringing in 1.83 million viewers. The first airing of the film "Matchstick Men" was second with 1.71 million, beating the 1.57 million who watched the first episode of "Family Bonds." The second "X-Men" movie aired to 1.27 million viewers in fourth and "Real Sex 23" was fifth with 0.95 million fans.

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Former Hobbit Is Far from 'Lost'

Dominic Monaghan, an actor best known as one of the guardians of the ring in the Oscar-winning "Lord of the Rings" movies, is on the phone from Hawaii, where he's just embarked on another jewelry quest, this time searching for earrings to send his mother for her birthday. There doesn't have to be anything mystical about the earrings, but they can't be too dangly.

                                                              

Along the way, there are certainly myriad obstacles. Over the course of a 25-minute interview, Monaghan is stopped repeatedly for autographs and pictures. He's also accosted by one person who knows the unassuming thespian looks familiar, but can't identify him. Monaghan cops to being an actor, but notes only that he's filming "Lost" on the island for ABC.

A minute later, the same person returns, more confident.

"Yeah, that's right, I was one of the hobbits," Monaghan says, only slightly drawn out. "I was at the shop across the street looking for earrings for my mum, but do you know any other craft-y shops?"

Safely away from his semi-fan and back on the streets, Monaghan laughs at the exchange.

"I think it's the cheesiest thing in the world to be saying 'Oh, I'm an actor' and for people to go 'Oh, yeah?' and for you to say 'Yes, you may have seen me in such films as blah, blah blah,'" he explains. "I help them along the way, but at no point do I say, 'Oh, I'm in 'Lord of the Rings'' because that's like saying 'Oh, I'm a Los Angeles Laker.'"

As good-spirited and occasionally resourceful hobbit Merry Brandybuck, Monaghan was part of a trilogy that earned billions, but also roared through the Oscars, running the table at this year's ceremony. In addition to coming away from the experience with fame and adoration, Monaghan quickly discovered he had been typecast.

"Generally the more pixie-type, Mogwai-kind, Furby-variety of characters," the 26-year-old says, explaining the roles he was offered. "There's been an assumption from a lot of casting directors that I'm a very sweet, cute, cuddly, non-threatening, non-offensive type of person. I think generally I am and I do have that inside me ... but there are other things about me that I want to show people."

For many viewers, "Lost" will provide the first chance to see the German-born, Manchester, England-raised Monaghan outside of Middle Earth. Monaghan plays Charlie, a member of a once-popular rock band which had a flourish of fame before vanishing into obscurity. Charlie is skittish and needy and has a host of other problems that are either revealed in the pilot or as the series progresses.

"He's evolving as we speak," says the actor, who has completed shooting seven episodes of the highly secretive series. "I'm trying to play him as a bad good guy. I see him as essentially a good guy, but he's got some really f***ed up elements to get through."

It's almost impossible not to read a healthy dose of Monaghan onto his character. Caught up in the "Lord of the Rings" phenomenon, but not as inextricably linked to it as an Elijah Wood or Viggo Mortensen, he's still trying to deal with the fact that fans feel that it's acceptable to come up to him in public and start touching him. Also, between lengthy location shoots for "LotR" in New Zealand and his new gig in Hawaii, Monaghan is used to a certain sense of dislocation.

"There's a lot of stuff that goes on when you leave your home," Monaghan notes with a sigh. "There're a lot of situations when you'd like to sit down with people and explain to them why you've not been around or why you've not been able to make certain events or birthdays. The bottom line is that I made the decision when I was 18 that my main drive for the foreseeable future was going to be my career. It's the thing that drives me."

A veteran of British television, including the long-running "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates," Monaghan initially had reservations about returning to the small screen and making a potentially lengthy commitment to a series. He quickly realized that "Lost" creators J.J. Abrams ("Alias") and Damon Lindelof were making a character that would let him stretch.

"I think we find Charlie at a crossroads in his life and I would like to see him struggle to work out who he's going to be and how he's going to contribute to the group," he says.

Monaghan knows what he contributes to the "Lost" group. With dozens of mysteries still unresolved after the two-part pilot, "Lost" has potential to become a cult favorite with fans every bit as passionate as the devotees of Abrams' spy drama. If that happens, Monaghan is ready to help.

"I'm in this nice position of being aware of it and being able to tell some of the younger cast members or some of the less experienced cast members that this potentially could be a life changing thing," he says. "It can get very crazy very quickly and if you don't have your wits about you, you can really start to get lost."

"Lost" premieres on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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ABC Ferries Estevez to 'Long Island'

The new series is actually produced by the Tannenbaum Co., which produces "Two and a Half Men." Eric and Kim Tannenbaum will executive produce with Jacobson, while Estevez will serve as a producer.

The script, by Jacobson, focuses on a Long Island family man who is fired from a big engineering job after the Sept. 11 attacks and has to reevaluate his life as he becomes a successful small-business entrepreneur. He lives with his wife, two kids, a socially active aunt and her Alzheimers-inflicted father.

"Hopefully it will come across as human and funny and real," Jacobson says.

Estevez, largely out of the public eye in recent years, has appeared in films from "The Outsiders" to "The Breakfast Club" to "Might Ducks" to "Freejack." Last season he directed for CBS' "The Guardian."

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The Game of LIFE Pirates of the Caribbean Release, Oct 16

Walt Disney World Special Events announces the release of The Game of LIFE Pirates of the Caribbean at Once Upon a Toy at Downtown Disney Marketplace on Saturday, October 16th with an artist signing opportunity. If you are unable to attend and wish to purchase this new exciting game, please contact Walt Disney Event Services at 407-827-7600 before October 15th to place your order. (Normal shipping charges will apply) Orders placed before October 15th will be signed by the Disney Artists.

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Christopher Radko Ornament Release & Signing Oct 1

The Disneyland Resort announces Christopher Radko will appear at Le Grand Court in Disneyland's New Orleans Square on Friday, October 1 from 1p - 3p for the release of his special Haunted Mansion Holiday ornament.

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David Kracov Clown with a Tear-Away Face Figurine

From ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'' into your home. This clown is ever-so-scarily recreated by master sculptor and painter David Kracov. 9 1/4'' H. Base 4 1/4''-square. Hand-painted, sculpted resin figure. Base marble. Imported. Certificate of Authenticity. Limited Edition of 250

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Walt Disney has enlisted the help of China's 70 million-strong Communist Youth League as it prepares to enter one of its last major untapped markets.

                                                              

The US entertainment giant is planning to tour Chinese youth centres in a bid to build awareness of the Disney brand.

The publicity drive comes ahead of the opening next year of the firm's $1.8bn (£1bn) Disney theme park in Hong Kong.

The youth sessions will include storytelling, interactive games and lessons in how to draw Mickey Mouse.

Disney said it would be working in partnership with the country's Communist Youth League.

Brand building

Disney expects that about one-third of the visitors to its Hong Kong park - the firm's second in Asia after Tokyo - will come from mainland China.

"It's one part of an overall brand building process," said Jay Rasulo, president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.

"We've had to be innovative. If you look at Europe and Tokyo, the brand was far better understood."

Disney's attempts to woo China's youth began in July, when a Disney team, including Mickey Mouse, visited 500 children at two youth centres in Guangzhou, in southern China.

Chinese consumers

The move into China represents "a huge commercial opportunity for Disney", according to Andy Milligan, of branding consultancy Interbrand.

"America and Western Europe is pretty much taken care of, but Asia is a big and growing market," he told the BBC's World Service.

"There is an increasingly affluent middle-class in China, so they have money to spend and money to travel."

Such is Disney's faith that China's communist youth will embrace the likes of Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty, the company is doing little to dampen speculation that another theme park will eventually be built in Shanghai.

"There's very little doubt in my mind that there will be a market further north in China for a second Disneyland," said Mr Rasulo.

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MGM Studios Stunt Show Sign Complete

Below is a photo of the now newly completed Action Extreme Auto Stunt Show.

                     

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Give 'Em Mel, Disney

Do you want to be Disney's next CEO? If so, you better hurry. This week the company's board announced that it would identify Michael Eisner's successor by no later than June. That may not seem like much of a rush job until you consider that Disney's next chieftain will be waiting for another 15 months after that to try the throne on for size.

The early application deadline seems to indicate that the board is leaning toward sticking with Eisner's suggested choice in COO Bob Iger. Some of the bigger names that have been tossed around as possible replacements such as eBay's  Meg Whitman and Yahoo!'s  Terry Semel are now likely to be crossed off the wish list given the rather unflattering notion of having to swing away in the on-deck circle for the next two years.

The June deadline may also knock out former Disney studio whiz Jeffrey Katzenberg as a candidate given his current workload trying to take DreamWorks Animation public. Paul Pressler, who oversaw Disney's theme parks before being named CEO at Gap last year, is also an unlikely applicant now given the recent hiccups at the specialty retailer that he was helping to turn around. My personal favorite, Apple Computer's Steve Jobs, may also be falling behind with the June deadline, as Jobs taking over would probably be part of much larger negotiations -- if not an outright buyout -- of Jobs' majority-owned Pixar.

So who is left? Is Iger a lock? Don't bet on it. I tagged him as a 2-to-1 front-runner last week, but he still has some things working against him. While Disney has stressed that Iger will be the only internal name considered, the fact that under his watch ABC has gone from first to last place (and the June deadline mandates a turnaround now in the fall instead of giving Iger another crack in fall 2005) finds the Disney board practically forcing itself into a regime change.

That leaves Mel Karmazin closing in for a great shot at leading Disney if he wants to. The broadcasting wunderkind left Viacom back in June, and he is the anti-Iger. He left Viacom with its CBS network on top, and Viacom operates in many of the same businesses as Disney given its own Paramount movie studio and theme parks. The fact that Karmazin is enjoying the flexibility of elective unemployment makes him the most likely outsider to accept a job that will start out as a temp job for an extended period of time.

But will the same board that turned a blind eye to the overwhelming vote of no confidence for Eisner earlier this year make the mistake of promoting from the inside? Disney has a chance to wipe away the skeptics and show a commitment to quality and financial perseverance. All it has to do now is crack open a window and see what's out there.

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Disney to Hire Search Firm to Find New Chief

The board of the Walt Disney Company said on Tuesday that it would immediately hire an executive search firm and would name a successor to its chief executive, Michael D. Eisner, by June 2005.

The board called Disney's president, Robert A. Iger, a "highly qualified" candidate and said in a statement that it would consider him for the job, but also said it would look for outside candidates.

George Mitchell, the former senator, who was named chairman after Mr. Eisner received a 45 percent no-confidence vote from shareholders in March and was stripped of the job, said in a conference call that the board might determine that Mr. Eisner should leave earlier than September 2006, when his contract ends, if it found a qualified candidate ready to take the job. Mr. Mitchell also said that while the board did not plan to recombine the jobs of chief executive and chairman, which were split in March, directors would consider doing so if it became a sticking point with a promising candidate.

One objective, said Mr. Mitchell, "is to get the best possible person."

Among those being mentioned by Disney watchers are: Terry Semel, the chief executive of Yahoo; Peter Chernin, the president of the News Corporation; and Jeffrey L. Bewkes, a top Time Warner executive.

It is expected that several Disney alumni will also be considered, including Paul Pressler, chief executive of Gap Inc., and Stephen B. Burke, president and chief operating officer of Comcast Cable.

Mr. Mitchell also said he would not seek to continue as chairman past 2006. Many on Wall Street had expected that announcement, since Mr. Mitchell had been reluctant to take the job. Mr. Mitchell, who turns 72 next year, said he would retire in accordance with the board's mandatory retirement guidelines, which stipulate that age.

After the board has named a successor to Mr. Eisner, Mr. Mitchell said it would search for a new chairman. Bob Daly, who successfully ran Warner Brothers for two decades along with Mr. Semel, has already told colleagues that he would be interested in being chairman of Disney. Mr. Daly has experience in the film, television and music worlds.

When Mr. Mitchell was asked if board members believed Mr. Eisner's recent comments that he was not interested in the chairman's job and would sever all board ties with Disney once his contract ended, he said, "We take him at his word."

Many executive search professionals, Wall Street analysts and media executives have said in the past week that the Disney board would have trouble attracting a world-class chief executive if Mr. Eisner remained on as chairman. In fact, it would not be unheard of for a serious candidate to request a stipulation in the employment agreement that Mr. Eisner not remain on the board.

Analysts said that the board's announcement that it is dealing with the succession would shift investor focus from the past, and Mr. Eisner's storied reign, to the future prospects for Disney and who can lead it. "The story is going to shift back to core operations," said Richard Greenfield, an analyst at Fulcrum Global Partners. "Tomorrow morning investors are going to wonder what is the growth rate past 2004."

Although Disney is on track to deliver on its pledge of 50 percent earnings growth in fiscal 2004, current earnings ar